The Blood That Flows
by soul-titude
Summary: Katara is a Bloodbender, on the run to avoid capture from the Fire Nation. Filled with uncertainty and confusion about the notion of murder and revenge, Katara meets Zuko - a defiant, banished Prince who is seeking out a Bloodbender's powers to overthrow the Fire Lord and Princess Azula. Features: strong!Katara, Zutara, protective!Zuko, slight AU-ish settings.


When Katara was six, she discovered that she could make the animals dance for her.

She laughed in delight when she first found out how to do it, wiggling her fingers just like the way she saw old Hama did in the middle of the night when no one else was around. Katara snuck out on nights after that, happily knowing that no matter how upset she was, her animal friends would dance the way she wanted them to.

That was until her disappearance was noticed by her father one night, and he had witnessed – to his horror – what his young, innocent daughter was doing.

"Katara, you have to stop," Chief Hakoda said, his voice urgent. Katara ignored him, too immersed with what she was doing to obey. "Katara!"

"Dad…" Katara said, smiling softly in the moonlight. "Look what I can do. I can make the animals dance."

"Katara." Chief Hakoda stepped in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder. How could his daughter – _his only daughter who had yet to learn about the world beyond their frozen lands_ – be so practiced in something forbidden? "What you are doing is wrong, and you have to stop it this instant."

She looked up. Concentration broken, a bearfox leaped away, yowling into the night. "Ah, no! Wait – oof!" Before Katara could jump and follow, Chief Hakoda stopped her with a firm grip on her wrist. "Dad! Why?"

"Listen closely, Katara - how would you feel," Chief Hakoda asked, "if someone tried to make you dance?"

Katara made a face as an image of her twirling across ice like a dainty fairy popped into her mind. "Dance? Ew! No way! I hate dancing, and no one's going to make me do it!"

"Exactly. What you are doing is very wrong, Katara. These animals want to move about freely, just like you do." Chief Hakoda pointed at the retreating bearfox. "And you are _forcing _them to do something they do not want to do."

Katara understood, sort of. She looked down at her hands, suddenly realizing the monstrosity of what she had just done. A sniffle came, followed by another. Her father was disappointed, and she hated it when she couldn't make her father proud. Why wasn't he happy? Hadn't he praised her heartily when he saw how she could bend water to her own wishes?

"I'm sorry," Katara said, tears running down her face. "I'm sorry, dad. I didn't know. I…I was just following what Hama was doing…"

Chief Hakoda stiffened. "Hama?" There was some serious investigation to be done – and if his daughter was right, Hama would never be seeing the light of day again. Then he sighed. "It's alright, Katara. I forgive you. Just promise me never to do this again, alright? Never, ever use this technique again."

Katara nodded, wiping the tears away. This, she definitely understood.

"_I promise."_

* * *

><p>It was easy to forget how fragile the human body was, a fifteen-year-old Katara thought.<p>

The water responded smoothly to her as she bended it to her will, hovering over the fresh wound of the injured soldier that had just been brought in. Katara sighed, feeling a sort of sadness spread over her. This was her twentieth patient, and she suspected that there would be more arriving within the next hour.

There was a flapping sound and Katara looked up to see her brother limp into the healing tent, his face smudged with soot and dirt.

"Sokka," Katara exclaimed, "how's it looking out there?"

Sokka looked grim, a far cry from his usual cheery self. "Katara, you have to leave right now."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, trying not to lose focus on the soldier she was treating. "Where's dad?"

"Dad's doing his best out there," Sokka explained, "but there's just too many of them. We're losing, Katara, and do you know what the worst thing is?"

Katara felt her heart tighten – not with worry, but with anger at what other despicable things the Fire Nation could probably come up with. "What?"

"They're not just invading, they're trying to capture our Water Benders too." Sokka looked at Katara firmly. "You have to get out of here before they get you."

"What about these injured people?"

"There's…there's no time," Sokka said, and Katara hated the pained look on his face as he explained. "Normally I'd say we evacuate them if we could, but…we're seriously outnumbered here."

"I can fight," Katara said, swishing the water for emphasis. If her brother thought she would leave without putting up a fight, then he was dead wrong. "I can take out any Fire Nation soldiers that dare trespass here. I'm not helpless, Sokka. The only reason why I'm here is because we needed healers. I can fight as well as any water bender – you and dad both know that!"

The deep rumbling in the distance progressively became louder. They're closing in, Katara thought. After sealing up the wound of the soldier in front of her, Katara stood up. Outnumbered or not, Katara would fight for her tribe. She was the Chief's _daughter, _after all.

"Katara!" Sokka said, trying to block her from exiting the tent, but she easily pushed him aside. He yowled, limping on his twisted ankle. "Geez, women…"

Katara's eyes widened in shock. She had been in the healing tent for quite some time, but even this…this destruction was unbelievable. Soldiers clad in red and grey Fire Nation armour battled against water benders, fire clashing messily against water. There were shards of ice sprouting from the most unexpected places; balls of fire melting tents and burning homes away. Screams of terror and hoarse war cries filled the air amidst the grey and flaky ash that rained down. The Fire Nation flag flapped in the wind, its brilliant red a stark contrast against the pale landscape.

She leaped into the fray immediately, a hard gleam in her blue eyes. Katara wasn't just a healer; she was a fighter. Bending water was second nature to her, and she would use it to extinguish every single last soldier who attempted to rob her people of their happiness. She felt no fear, only anger.

Fire Nation soldiers charged at her upon realizing there was a water bender in their midst, some throwing fire balls in her way. Katara skilfully dodged, drawing water from the canals to surround her like a flexible suit of armour.

"Get her!"

"Get the water bender!"

Not a chance, she thought angrily.

Sokka's boomerang flew, knocking a few soldiers out. He looked immensely proud of his achievement. "Did you see that, Katara? Did you see what I just did?"

Katara merely rolled her eyes. "Focus, Sokka."

More soldiers charged forward. Katara glared, whipping them with long water extensions and listening in satisfaction as they cried in pain.

A deep voice boomed. "The Chief's daughter is skilled, as I can see."

Katara paused in her fighting to see a large, burly man step forward. She felt the warning bells in her mind sound – this man was the Admiral. He wasn't just one of those stupid soldiers she could throw around with a water whip. That meant she would have to be careful.

"What have you done with my father?" Katara asked.

He smiled, and it was a cruel smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You…" she said disbelievingly. _No way…_

"This tribe has fallen. Victory is ours," the Admiral said, extending his arms out. Beyond that, Katara could see more Fire Nation troops arriving. There were at least eight new battleships with reinforcement soldiers in them. She could see the water benders in her tribe falling one by one, overwhelmed by the significant number of enemies or defeated by sheer exhaustion.

"This…this can't be happening…" Katara mumbled, more to herself than anyone else. Everyone…everyone she knew in the village…

"Katara!" Sokka yelled, moving to stand in front of her. "I'll hold them off while you escape!"

Oh, Sokka, Katara thought, tears welling up in her eyes. Even at times like this, her brother was still trying to protect her.

"Step aside," the Admiral commanded, his eyes glinting with greed and anticipation. "We aren't interested in non-benders."

Sokka stood his ground. He quivered in fear, but there was a fierce expression on his face. "That's my _sister _you're looking at, you jerk!"

There was a sickening crack as the Admiral punched Sokka, hard. Blood spurted out of his nose and Sokka fell onto the ice, boomerang clattering out of his hands.

"Your brother is a fool to think he can stand up to the Fire Nation," the Admiral said. "Now come with me."

"Sokka!" Katara cried. She lashed out blindly, bending the water around her to the best she could. Ice darts, water waves, sharp whips…Katara used them all, feeling herself sweat and pant. She was exerting herself, and those stupid Fire Nation bastards knew it. They were closing in, trying to back her into a corner.

Katara felt the tears slide down her face. She couldn't give up now. More flames were shot in her way and she dodged, aware that the soldiers were now attacking from every single angle. She had to do something…she couldn't let herself be captured.

They took dad, Katara thought numbly. If they took him, they had the power to take her, too.

_Do something, Katara! Come on! _But her body wasn't moving fast enough, and she certainly didn't have enough energy to take on every single one of them. All the healing had taken a toll on her. Katara wasn't in prime form, and she knew it.

The Admiral was right in front of her, his arms reaching out for her.

_No! _

The desperation triggered a memory in her head from years ago and suddenly Katara had a vision of herself in a field of ice, the moon glowing onto her from above. There was something she could do once upon a time…but what was it?

_It's wrong, Katara,_ she remembered her father's deep voice saying. _Promise me never to use it again._

A bearfox.

Moonlight.

The animals dancing, all just for her.

Old Hama.

It's wrong – it's _wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…_

Katara screamed, unleashing every last bit of energy she had towards the Admiral with shaky fingers…

…and watched, in horror, as the Admiral's hands bent in an unnatural angle with a sickening crack. His eyes bulged in pain as he struggled, painfully, against the invisible shackles that were holding him in place. The Fire Nation soldiers fell back, surprised and fearful at what was happening.

"You…" the Admiral rasped, his fingers twitching. "What are you doing to m-me?"

Katara bit her lip, forcing the Admiral down to his knees.

She remembered now. Oh, how she remembered it now.

_What else could she do?_

I could…I could do this, Katara thought shakily, bending the Admiral's head towards the side with a snap. And…if I twisted his head a little further, I could silence him forever. I could make sure he never lives to tell anyone about this again. But what good would that do? The soldiers were watching. News of what she could do would definitely travel back to the Fire Nation, one way or another.

_Katara, this is wrong. _

_But he attacked your village – OUR village! He captured our people – dad, mum, probably many others…I have to rescue them. _

_Bloodbending is wrong, Katara. _

I can bloodbend, Katara thought mirthlessly. I always could. I can make anyone kneel down and beg me for mercy.

_But at what cost? _

"Ka…Katara?" Sokka groaned on the ground, scrabbling weakly for his boomerang.

Katara took a deep breath, knowing what she had to do.

At this rate, there was no turning back.

"That's right, everyone, I am a bloodbender," Katara said out loud, her voice ringing clearly. Realization dawned across the Admiral's face. She turned to the Fire Nation troops, addressing them all. "If you want your Admiral alive, you will let me go and leave this village RIGHT NOW!"

"Don't listen to h – AGH!"

"Am I making myself clear?" Katara asked, twisting one of the Admiral's legs to shut him up. "Anyone who dares attack me will suffer the same fate!"

There were slow nods as the soldiers backed away slowly. They seemed fearful of her despite their large numbers, and Katara knew they had good reason to fear her. Her power, she knew, was unnatural...and evil. Even the Fire Nation would not want to tinker around with _that_.

Katara released her grip on the Admiral. Then she ran without turning back.


End file.
